Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many unsuccessful free school applications have been facilitated by the New Schools Network in each year since 2010.

The New Schools Network (NSN) is an independent charity that aims to improve the quality of education in the state sector, particularly for the most deprived children. NSN currently receives a grant from the Department for Education, which it secured following an open competition in 2013. The grant expires in March 2017.

The salary of NSN’s director is entirely a matter for the charity’s board of trustees, as are other terms of employment, such as declaring any interests in relation to their position.

NSN’s annual accounts are available from the Charity Commission’s webpages at: http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/registerhomepage.aspx. The accounts include details of NSN’s income, including its grant funding from the department.

NSN provides a wide range of assistance for free school applicants from online information freely available to everyone to more bespoke support for applicants enrolled on its development programme. NSN estimates it has worked with around 70 per cent of all successful free school applicants.

We have never received a formal complaint about NSN.